Sean Hurley Fender CS P-Bass / String Mute Q

[pickups]

Glad everyone likes the writeup. the bass I put it on was a 2012 Fender Select I bought a few years ago. Originally retails for $2400, I got a floor model for $900, which was a steal. I'd be surprised if they sold a ton at $2400, but it is a really pretty and really nice American fender bass with some nice upgrades. If I'd paid retail for it and didn't have a woodworker friend with experience and good tools I wouldn't have done it, but I'm an engineer by day and love mechanisms. I'd have no issue putting it on a non-vintage run of the mill bass, it is a neat, though kind of crude mechanism.

Re: other bass mute gizmos:
My daughter has a bass that she installed a "Bass Mute", a product that is mentioned here on the forum. It's mechanism is really, really slick, and can be attached with double sided tape. They are hard to get however.
The Nordstrand mute looks like it would be simple and effective.

Re: Sean Hurley signature bass.
I actually bought a used 2014 Sean Hurley model a few weeks ago. I came across it online at the Chicago Music Exchange site and in a fit of unplanned Covid stir-crazy-ness, kind of grabbed on impulse, knowing that they rarely come up on the used market. When I received it, I'd already had buyers remorse and was thinking of sending it back (it was definitely not a $900 steal of a deal!), especially when I saw it did not have the cool finished checking like @WoodyJ 's above. It's certificate says closet classic, and the relicing is fairly light. I had three days to decide to send it back and damn if I didn't end up really liking it. It sounds great, and plays really well. I've since sold a couple of other basses and some gear to dull my guilty wallet. I am admittedly a big fan of Sean's playing, as well as his overall attitude and approach to bass, I've learned a lot by transcribing in detail a couple of his cool parts. See my blog link or Instagram feed (@wallybarnum) if you want to download the one I did of his Scott's bass lesson video with David Ryan Harris. At the start of the pandemic, I contacted Sean and had a Skype lesson with him (the pandemic gave a lot of big name bass players unplanned free time). He's every bit as cool as he seems online.
Does buying a Sean Hurley bass make you sound like Sean Hurley? Nope, but you'll get a damn fine custom shop bass, so congratulations @KCFrets !

Whitelines, I was actually going to buy that bass. I sold my Moollon on a another site and it took a week for me to get paid after I sold it and when I went back to buy the bass YOU bought it. All good ... I'm still looking for a Sean Hurley on here and other places so I'm hoping one turns up soon. Let me know if you ever want to sell. Thanks, Cojo

 

[whitelines]

Whitelines, I was actually going to buy that bass. I sold my Moollon on a another site and it took a week for me to get paid after I sold it and when I went back to buy the bass YOU bought it. All good ... I'm still looking for a Sean Hurley on here and other places so I'm hoping one turns up soon. Let me know if you ever want to sell. Thanks, Cojo

Sorry dude!

 

[pickups]

I have one and the mute works fine but as whitelines mentioned, it doesn't sound like the typical owner-installed foam mute. And yes, the Fender mute is factory installed. The setup on the Hurley is very similar to the one that Fender has used on the Jaguar guitar since 1962.

I keep a larger self-installed mute on a Fender Jazz that is my go-to studio bass. It mutes more than the Hurley one but both do what they are supposed to do depending on the desired level of muting.

View attachment 4072859
View attachment 4072862

WoodJ I'll put it out in the universe for you as well ... if you ever want to sell the Sean Hurley let me know. Hopefully, I haven't asked you about it before ... I can't remember. Thanks Cojo

 

[KCFrets]

Glad everyone likes the writeup. the bass I put it on was a 2012 Fender Select I bought a few years ago. Originally retails for $2400, I got a floor model for $900, which was a steal. I'd be surprised if they sold a ton at $2400, but it is a really pretty and really nice American fender bass with some nice upgrades. If I'd paid retail for it and didn't have a woodworker friend with experience and good tools I wouldn't have done it, but I'm an engineer by day and love mechanisms. I'd have no issue putting it on a non-vintage run of the mill bass, it is a neat, though kind of crude mechanism.

Re: other bass mute gizmos:
My daughter has a bass that she installed a "Bass Mute", a product that is mentioned here on the forum. It's mechanism is really, really slick, and can be attached with double sided tape. They are hard to get however.
The Nordstrand mute looks like it would be simple and effective.

Re: Sean Hurley signature bass.
I actually bought a used 2014 Sean Hurley model a few weeks ago. I came across it online at the Chicago Music Exchange site and in a fit of unplanned Covid stir-crazy-ness, kind of grabbed on impulse, knowing that they rarely come up on the used market. When I received it, I'd already had buyers remorse and was thinking of sending it back (it was definitely not a $900 steal of a deal!), especially when I saw it did not have the cool finished checking like @WoodyJ 's above. It's certificate says closet classic, and the relicing is fairly light. I had three days to decide to send it back and damn if I didn't end up really liking it. It sounds great, and plays really well. I've since sold a couple of other basses and some gear to dull my guilty wallet. I am admittedly a big fan of Sean's playing, as well as his overall attitude and approach to bass, I've learned a lot by transcribing in detail a couple of his cool parts. See my blog link or Instagram feed (@wallybarnum) if you want to download the one I did of his Scott's bass lesson video with David Ryan Harris. At the start of the pandemic, I contacted Sean and had a Skype lesson with him (the pandemic gave a lot of big name bass players unplanned free time). He's every bit as cool as he seems online.
Does buying a Sean Hurley bass make you sound like Sean Hurley? Nope, but you'll get a damn fine custom shop bass, so congratulations @KCFrets !

LOL thanks Whitelines; that's a cool story! Looking forward to it and I appreciate everyone input. Love this community

 

[WoodyJ]

WoodJ I'll put it out in the universe for you as well ... if you ever want to sell the Sean Hurley let me know. Hopefully, I haven't asked you about it before ... I can't remember. Thanks Cojo

Hi, Cojo,

Nope, you haven't asked in the past. Funny thing, when I bought it back in 2018, it was one of those "accidental purchases" (like whitelines did). I was at a guitar show in Franklin, TN with one of my music buddies. In the same building where the show was, there was a high-end guitar store (Artisan Guitars) that had several uber-cool Fender Custom Shop guitars but only one bass - the one I ended up with. I really didn't need another bass but I was mesmerized with the Charcoal Frost checked finish and the mute. Funny thing, at the time I had no idea who Sean Hurley was. To make a long story short, the salesperson (the wife of the owner) was incredibly nice and the owner gave me a nice discount and no sales tax if I would allow it to be shipped to me at my place in (then) Atlanta. So, of course I bought it and ended up not buying anything at the guitar show, which I probably wasn't going to do anyway.

BTW, whitelines, the Custom Shop COA on mine indicates "Sean Hurley CC 1961 Precision Bass 3/19/2018". I assume CC= Closet Classic

And Cojo, if and when I decide to sell it, you have first dibs. It is a fantastic instrument that never leaves my house, it is home studio only. I just checked the Artisan Guitars website and guess what - they have another Charcoal Frost Sean Hurley '61 Precision on the way.

 

[pickups]

Hi, Cojo,

Nope, you haven't asked in the past. Funny thing, when I bought it back in 2018, it was one of those "accidental purchases" (like whitelines did). I was at a guitar show in Franklin, TN with one of my music buddies. In the same building where the show was, there was a high-end guitar store (Artisan Guitars) that had several uber-cool Fender Custom Shop guitars but only one bass - the one I ended up with. I really didn't need another bass but I was mesmerized with the Charcoal Frost checked finish and the mute. Funny thing, at the time I had no idea who Sean Hurley was. To make a long story short, the salesperson (the wife of the owner) was incredibly nice and the owner gave me a nice discount and no sales tax if I would allow it to be shipped to me at my place in (then) Atlanta. So, of course I bought it and ended up not buying anything at the guitar show, which I probably wasn't going to do anyway.

BTW, whitelines, the Custom Shop COA on mine indicates "Sean Hurley CC 1961 Precision Bass 3/19/2018". I assume CC= Closet Classic

And Cojo, if and when I decide to sell it, you have first dibs. It is a fantastic instrument that never leaves my house, it is home studio only. I just checked the Artisan Guitars website and guess what - they have another Charcoal Frost Sean Hurley '61 Precision on the way.

Thanks for the info WoodyJ. Please keep me in mind if you decide to sell ... I'd rather buy used than a new one but I will check out Artisan Guitars. Also I live in Alabama so not too far to ship.Thanks!

 

[whitelines]

BTW, whitelines, the Custom Shop COA on mine indicates "Sean Hurley CC 1961 Precision Bass 3/19/2018". I assume CC= Closet Classic

Hi Cojo,
Yeah, the certificate that came with mine says CC as well but does not have the finish checking. A few days after I received it, I took it apart and the inside markings sure look like it came from the FCS, but I've never been down this FCS road until now. Fearing that I had somehow got a fake, I called the FCS, told them the serial number and asked about the finish and the guy on the phone said the serial was a SH sig but about the finish, did the audible equivalent of a "beats me". I kind of guessed that maybe in 2014 when you ordered it it they asked you if you wanted the checking and the original owner said "nope"?

Always eager to look at new basses, I checked out the artisan guitars store that you mentioned, as I'd never heard of them before. Scrolling down the FCS page, they have a pic of a "sold-out" SH bass that looks identical to mine, no checking and pretty light sanding on the back of the neck, with the exception of the logo on the back of the headstock on mine is a single color, which I read was what they did in that time frame.

Fender Custom Shop Sean Hurley Signature 1961 Precision Bass, Aged Charcoal Frost ID-13070

So there are at least two in the world without the cool finish relic. I doubt mine is a fraud, who would go to the trouble of installing the whole string mute to counterfeit a FCS bass? Seems like it would be easier to fake a generic sunburst custom shop model. Reading too many TB threads about fake vintage basses had me spooked. I bought a 63 jazz a few years ago and fell into the fake-or-not rabbit hole.

Since most people on this forum like bass porn pics, I'll put in a couple of pics of mine disassembled. The initials on the body are penciled in as "JC". Wasn't there a John C builder that was fired last year from the FCS? Or maybe stands for Jeffery Colombo, who knows. The neck joint is tight and it looks like somebody already found that out according to the paint chipping on the neck joint edge. The swirls on the finish and pick guard in the body pic are not there when I look at it in natural light, I think its an interference pattern from the multiple LED can lights above my head in my home office. weird.

 

[pickups]

Hi Cojo,
Yeah, the certificate that came with mine says CC as well but does not have the finish checking. A few days after I received it, I took it apart and the inside markings sure look like it came from the FCS, but I've never been down this FCS road until now. Fearing that I had somehow got a fake, I called the FCS, told them the serial number and asked about the finish and the guy on the phone said the serial was a SH sig but about the finish, did the audible equivalent of a "beats me". I kind of guessed that maybe in 2014 when you ordered it it they asked you if you wanted the checking and the original owner said "nope"?

Always eager to look at new basses, I checked out the artisan guitars store that you mentioned, as I'd never heard of them before. Scrolling down the FCS page, they have a pic of a "sold-out" SH bass that looks identical to mine, no checking and pretty light sanding on the back of the neck, with the exception of the logo on the back of the headstock on mine is a single color, which I read was what they did in that time frame.

Fender Custom Shop Sean Hurley Signature 1961 Precision Bass, Aged Charcoal Frost ID-13070

So there are at least two in the world without the cool finish relic. I doubt mine is a fraud, who would go to the trouble of installing the whole string mute to counterfeit a FCS bass? Seems like it would be easier to fake a generic sunburst custom shop model. Reading too many TB threads about fake vintage basses had me spooked. I bought a 63 jazz a few years ago and fell into the fake-or-not rabbit hole.

Since most people on this forum like bass porn pics, I'll put in a couple of pics of mine disassembled. The initials on the body are penciled in as "JC". Wasn't there a John C builder that was fired last year from the FCS? Or maybe stands for Jeffery Colombo, who knows. The neck joint is tight and it looks like somebody already found that out according to the paint chipping on the neck joint edge. The swirls on the finish and pick guard in the body pic are not there when I look at it in natural light, I think its an interference pattern from the multiple LED can lights above my head in my home office. weird.
View attachment 4074835 View attachment 4074832 View attachment 4074833

Pretty bass.

 

[WoodyJ]

whitelines,

JC was John Cruz who became one of the most prolific and best known Master Builders in the Custom Shop.

Here's an article regarding his "dismissal"...

Fender appears to have dismissed Custom Shop Master Builder John Cruz over controversial Facebook post | Guitar.com | All Things Guitar

Regarding the finish on your SH Precision, my best guess is that the earlier ones had a smooth but lightly aged finish, while the later ones came with the checking.

 

[whitelines]

whitelines,

JC was John Cruz who became one of the most prolific and best known Master Builders in the Custom Shop.

Here's an article regarding his "dismissal"...

Fender appears to have dismissed Custom Shop Master Builder John Cruz over controversial Facebook post | Guitar.com | All Things Guitar

Regarding the finish on your SH Precision, my best guess is that the earlier ones had a smooth but lightly aged finish, while the later ones came with the checking.

I bet you are right.

 

[whitelines]

I bet you are right.

I mean I bet you are right about the finish. Who knows if j Cruz built it, the certificate does not have his name on it, but the director of the custom shop, Tom somebody. In any case, it's a good one.

 

[whitelines]

For those of you that want to hear what the mute sounds like on. SH CS bass, here is an Instagram post I did today with it. See what you think. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKWnApnD3SB/

 

[pickups]

For those of you that want to hear what the mute sounds like on. SH CS bass, here is an Instagram post I did today with it. See what you think.

Very nice Whitelines! That bass sounds great!

 

[whitelines]

Very nice Whitelines! That bass sounds great!

Thanks!

 

[Rich67]

I recently acquired a white SH and love it. Non-relic. Best I can tell the white ones are not offered in a relic finish. I got it more for the pickup (which I love) and didn't know if I'd dig the mute-thingy. But it's easy to engage/disengage and I'm getting more adept with it. I love the neck as well.

 

[pickups]

I recently acquired a white SH and love it. Non-relic. Best I can tell the white ones are not offered in a relic finish. I got it more for the pickup (which I love) and didn't know if I'd dig the mute-thingy. But it's easy to engage/disengage and I'm getting more adept with it. I love the neck as well. View attachment 4140187

Did you get this used or new?

 

[Rich67]

New. It popped up right before Christmas 2020 on Sweetwater's site. I was... "oh my..."

 

[pickups]

New. It popped up right before Christmas 2020 on Sweetwater's site. I was... "oh my..."

Nice!

 

[WoodyJ]

Thanks for the info WoodyJ. Please keep me in mind if you decide to sell ... I'd rather buy used than a new one but I will check out Artisan Guitars. Also I live in Alabama so not too far to ship.Thanks!

Hey, Cojo, PM me if you are interested, I am in the mood to do some downsizing. Ten basses is way more than I need since I am no longer gigging. The Hurley is like brand new and has never left my home studio.

 

[pickups]

Hey, Cojo, PM me if you are interested, I am in the mood to do some downsizing. Ten basses is way more than I need since I am no longer gigging. The Hurley is like brand new and has never left my home studio.

Hey Woody ... I tried to pm, but you don't have that option on your profile. As far as the Hurley, let me think about it. I've waited so long for one that I may have thought myself out of getting one now. You can pm me the details and I will think about it if you don't mind. Thanks man